Madalyn Altschuler, Regional Manager, Client Programs

Madalyn Altschuler is responsible for educating our clients on MarketLink, our proprietary Benefits Administration and Private Exchange Platform, as well as developing Benefits Communications solutions for our clients and their employees.

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Thought-provoking, lively, engaging and hilarious. Those are just a few words to describe our San Diego Annual GROW Keynote Speaker, AmyK Hutchens. On Wednesday, April 11, AmyK ignited brilliance in our San Diego colleagues, clients and business partners at what continues to be a jam-packed event year after year. GROW, which stands for Growth in Relationships and Opportunities for Women, hosts the annual keynote to bring the community together for an hour filled with inspiration, development, and usually some laughs, and AmyK didn’t disappoint one bit!

AmyK is a former executive of a billion dollar global organization and was awarded the Vistage UK International Speaker of the Year. She has influenced thousands of executives across the globe with her keen insight and intuitive understanding of the issues leaders face. At the keynote, she spoke to real-world challenges and solutions in both personal and professional situations that the multi-generational room of participants could relate to. Audience members ranged from those just getting started in their career to C-suite players, and AmyK had something for everyone.

Through the course of her presentation, AmyK encouraged guests to think about our own challenges as she walked through a series of questions, takeaways and tools. She started out by really encouraging all of us to slow down and realize that leadership is happening “one… conversation… at… a…time”. As leaders, we are responsible for the critical thinking in each conversation and we may need to increase our critical thinking if we want to drive a better outcome. Further into the seminar, she discussed organizational values and the importance of defining the behaviors behind each value, and leading by modeling those behaviors.

Are you ready to make 2018 the year your company delivers the most effective and engaging employee benefits communication materials possible? If your answer is YES, then keep on reading.

With support from your MMA team, you can knock out these four steps and really wow your employees.

1. CONDUCT AN OPEN ENROLLMENT REVIEW

Open Enrollment is one time each year you REALLY expect your employees to pay attention and think about their benefits decision for the upcoming plan year. As you reflect on if your open enrollment was a success (and hopefully not a complete flop), consider asking yourself the following questions:

- How well did we utilize technology to deliver our open enrollment message?

- Did we effectively spotlight important new topics for employees, such as our new wellness program, new plan options, or new voluntary benefits?

- Were our employees well-informed on the enrollment process and have minimal issues?

- Did we set attendance goals for our Open Enrollment Meetings? If so, were they met?

After reviewing your most recent Open Enrollment, you’ll be better equipped to modify your process for the upcoming year to yield better results.

The window of opportunity, however, is quickly closing. Deadline for enrollment in the trust and access to below market rates is September 30, 2016.

Founded by BIOCOM in partnership with Marsh & McLennan Agency, Beyond Benefits enables life science and biotech companies to pool their purchasing power and secure employee benefit rates similar to organizations with a large number of employees.

In 2017, the 198 members of Beyond Benefits will see a 1.4% rate reduction. Meanwhile, companies not participating in Beyond Benefits will likely face an average rate increase of 9.2%* in 2017.

Since 2012, Beyond Benefits has saved member companies more than $89 million in medical premiums, or about $6 million annually. More than 6,500 biotech and life sciences employees are covered by the program.

Researchers in the social sciences are seeking to understand the components that create the elusive condition we call happiness. The happiness factor is coming into play in the work arena as well with studies showing the importance of job satisfaction in retention of top talent. As discussed in How to Keep Your Employees Happy—Part 1: Quality Benefits, studies suggest that employee benefits play an important role in the overall satisfaction employees experience in their jobs.

Many employers recognize the importance of job satisfaction when it comes to finding and retaining talented workers. In simple terms, they want their employees to be happy. Competitive salaries, compelling work, and a positive environment are big drivers of the happiness factor but more and more, particularly in industries that are arm wrestling for the best talent, a strong employee benefit package is a game changer. Offering strong health benefits as well as retirement and voluntary benefits can be the difference between recruiting a key staffer and losing them to your competition.

According to studies by MetLife and Unum, quality benefits and coinciding benefit education make a measurable difference in employee recruitment, retention, and reported job satisfaction.

Quality benefits remain a key recruiting and retention tool. From a tactical perspective, benefits still play a big role in attracting and retaining employees, a recent MetLife study confirmed. Sixty percent of employees said quality benefits are the reason they remain with their company. Forty-nine percent said benefits are the reason they came to work for the organization in the first place.

Compelling benefits programs translate into employee satisfaction. Employees who are satisfied with their benefits are more likely to be loyal and satisfied with their jobs by a wide margin, according to the MetLife study. More than 70% of employees who were satisfied with their benefits were also satisfied with their job and their employer.

How much would your employees appreciate a cool new, employee benefits app?

Consider the following:

Over 70% of the U.S. population owns a smartphone¹

Mobile users check those smartphones 40 to 100 times each day¹

Four out of five smartphone users wake up and look at their phone within 15 minutes¹

Benefits for All

Today, an easy-to-use benefits app, fully branded with your corporate identity, is one of the best ways for employees to understand their benefit options and for employers to communicate their benefits programs.

For employers, a benefits app reduces costs, streamlines benefits communication and creates buy-in from employees, who are much more likely to turn to their smartphone for information than anyplace else.

A well-designed, fully-featured app can save your Human Resources team time and also further shift resources to mobile delivery from traditional paper-based employee communications.

A Digital Swiss-Army Knife

An app can store an organization’s entire benefits guide, as well as plan summaries for each benefit offered. For communicating throughout the year, an app can send “push notifications” to employees highlighting important plan changes or other relevant benefits program information. An FAQ residing in the app can also ease the workload on your HR team and minimize inquiries to a call center by making information readily available.

Common Questions Employees Are Asking

Do you have employees who are ineligible for your employer-sponsored plan and still need help securing individual health insurance before the fast approaching deadline? Are you an individual having a difficult time deciding on a health care plan? For most individuals, if you aren’t enrolled in a plan by March 31, 2014, you may have to pay a penalty!

We sat down with one of Marsh & McLennan Agency's ownInsurance Advocatesto learn firsthand what questions individuals are asking when it comes to buying coverage. Maybe you’ve heard these questions too and could use our insight to respond to your employees’ inquiries:

What advice would you give to individuals looking to reduce their insurance costs, while still reviewing the best plan options available?

First, let’s start with the basics by finding out how many people are in the household and what the annual household income is. Based on this information, we may be able to look at health plans on the public Health Insurance Exchange to find out if a subsidy would be given to help the individual pay for health coverage.

If the individual is not eligible for a subsidy, we would suggest looking at Silver plans through the Exchange, as these have lower deductibles and copayments for services. For an individual that just needs coverage to avoid paying a penalty for failing to have coverage, we would likely recommend a Bronze level plan.

What should individuals consider when deciding on the best health plan?